A: Deal with each new email in one of these ways: Action, Flag, File or Delete.

The ONLY 4 things you should do with new email

1. Action

Can you do what the email requires in a few minutes or less? Can you reply, forward, attach a file, make a note of information, find a file, change a document, etc? If so, do it straight away.

Then, if you need the email for reference, file it; if not, delete it. Same goes for any forwarded or sent fruits of your email tree.

Voila! The ‘instant action email’ (IAE) is satisfying – enjoy it.

2. Flag

Do you need more time or resources to action the email?

I have to stop here to say Do you really? Walking to the filing cabinet doesn’t count. Don’t use this option as a way to procrastinate on tasks you can do quickly – think of it as a last resort. You want as many IAEs as possible.

Put the task it in your schedule for the date (and time, if appropriate) when you’ll do it

Flag it – in Outlook you can add a dated flag which puts the email into your task list for the flagged date

Move it to a To Do folder that you action regularly.

In this way, emails for later action are placed where they’ll tickle you at the right time, and removed from your inbox.

3. File

If no action is needed but you think you may need the email for reference, file* it. We’re getting that inbox closer to zero!

3. Delete

If no action is needed and you don’t need the email, delete it. Another satisfying inbox action!

The email dilemma: To keep or not to keep?

There are two schools of thought on this debate. One school says: Storage is cheap, search is fast, keep everything. I belong to the other school, which says: If in doubt chuck it out; keep nothing unnecessary; minimize your personal footprint – on and offline.

I have a small piece of paper on my monitor which lists the 4 D’s of emails. They are Ditch, Deal, Delegate and Decide. They are there for me to see and DO, but unfortunately I do not do this as I should!!

I have a small piece of paper on my monitor which lists the 4 D’s of emails. They are Ditch, Deal, Delegate and Decide. They are there for me to see and DO, but unfortunately I do not do this as I should!!